See pages 199 -200

A. The destruction of el-Bader flour mill

913. The Mission visited the site of the air strikes and surveyed the
surrounding area in Sudaniyah, west of Jabaliyah. It met and
interviewed the Hamada brothers, joint owners of the el-Bader flour
mill, on four occasions. It spoke with representatives of the business
community about the context and consequences of the strike on the
flour mill. Mr. Hamada also testified at
the public hearings in Gaza. The Mission also addressed questions to
the Government of Israel with regard to the military advantage pursued
in attacking the el-Bader flour mill, but received no reply.

914. The Hamada brothers are well-established businessmen and hold
Businessman Cards, issued by the Israeli authorities to facilitate
business travel to and from Israel. The flour mill is one of several
businesses owned by the brothers on this site, including a tomato-
canning factory and a factory for the production of nappies. These
last two businesses were closed down
sometime before the beginning of the Israeli military operations in
Gaza, as the blockade led to a lack of supplies. According to Mr.
Rashad Hamada, the tomato-canning business failed primarily because of
the Israeli authorities’ refusal to allow tins for canning into Gaza.
The owners had transferred many employees from the businesses that had
closed down to the flour mill so that these employees would continue
to draw a salary. At the time of its destruction, the flour mill
employed more than 50 people.

915. The el-Bader flour mill began operations in 1999. By 27 December
2008, it was the only one of Gaza’s three flour mills still operating.
The others had ceased operations owing to a lack of supplies. The el-
Bader mill was able to continue in part because of its greater storage
capacity.

916. On 30 December 2008, a recorded warning was left on the flour
mill’s answering machine to the effect that the message was from the
Israeli armed forces and that the building should be evacuated
immediately. The approximately 45 workers in the mill at the time were
evacuated at around 9.30 a.m.

917. Following the evacuation, Mr. Hamada called a business associate
in Israel, explained what had happened and asked him for advice. The
business associate called him back, indicating that he had spoken with
contacts in the Israeli armed forces on Mr. Hamada’s behalf, and had
been told that, although the mill had been on a list of proposed
targets, they had decided not to proceed with the strike. Mr. Hamada
did not receive any information as to why his mill might have been
targeted.

918. As a result of these conversations and the fact that there had
been no strike, the employees returned to work the next day. Work
continued for a number of days until a second recorded warning was
received on or around 4 January 2009. The flour mill was again
evacuated and Mr. Hamada again contacted his business associate in
Israel. The same scenario unfolded whereby Mr. Hamada received a call
later on to the effect that the Israeli armed forces had informed his
associate that the mill would not be hit. The employees returned to
work in the light of the information and the fact that the warnings
had not been put into effect.

919. On 9 January, at around 3 or 4 a.m., the flour mill was hit by an
air strike, possibly by an F-16. The missile struck the floor that
housed one of the machines indispensable to the mill’s functioning,
completely destroying it. The guard who was on duty at the time called
Mr. Hamada to inform him that the building had been hit and was on
fire. He was unhurt. In the next 60 to 90 minutes the mill was hit
several times by missiles fired from an Apache helicopter. These
missiles hit the upper floors of the factory, destroying key
machinery. Adjoining buildings, including the grain store, were not
hit. The strikes entirely disabled the factory and it has not been
back in operation since. A large amount of grain remains at the site
but cannot be processed.

920. The Israeli armed forces occupied the disabled building until
around 13 January. Hundreds of shells were found on its roof after the
soldiers left. They appeared to be 40-mm grenade machine-gun spent
cartridges.